Monday, April 13, 2009

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's "Baking" book. Many great recipes in that book, although sometimes things can be a little overly complicated. I melt chocolate in the microwave with no problem, where Martha would call for a double boiler. I highly recommend the book though, haven't found a dud recipe in it yet. This is the best lemon bar recipe I've ever had, although the crust is a little involved. You can mix it by hand with a pastry blender, but it would take forever. A food processor is really a must. You can use the lime called for in the recipe, or substitute with more lemon juice/zest. I won a blue ribbon for these at the county fair (they don't care about the recipe, just the final result). These are real artery cloggers, so I don't make them very often!

FOR THE CRUST

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound (4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

FOR THE FILLING

8 large eggs

4 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Add butter, and cut in using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, until the largest pieces of butter are the size of peas.